The Truth About Gluten

I’ve been getting lots of questions about gluten, so I brought in a special guest to answer them! Dr. Mauricio González joined me to talk about celiac disease, gluten intolerance, and more. He’s an internal medicine resident at the Metropolitan Hospital Center: New York Medical College, and his passion is bringing the public honest, clear medical information about plant-based diets.

Let’s start off by clarifying what exactly gluten is. As Mauricio explains, it’s simply a specific type of protein that occurs in wheat. About 1% of the population of the US has celiac disease, which is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks itself after ingesting wheat. Another 2% to 6% of the population is sensitive to gluten, but without having celiac disease. This is called non-celiac gluten sensitivity, and can include symptoms such as bloating, constipation, and diarrhea.

Between people with celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, about 93% of the population should have no problem with gluten. But we all know that there’s a craze for gluten-free and wheat-free products. Mauricio blames this mostly on a lack of clear communication between the medical world and the general public. If you want to hear more about how this is a problem, check out the YouTube video!

Mauricio also talks about possible reasons why it is that so many people feel better when they don’t eat gluten, even though the vast majority of the population doesn’t have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. One possibility is the nocebo effect, which is basically the opposite of the more familiar placebo effect. The nocebo effect means you feel worse even though you were given a harmless substance.

Another possibility is that for many people, the issue isn’t with gluten at all, but rather with other ingredients that tend to go hand-in-hand with it. When you stay away from processed grains, you reduce not only your gluten intake, but also sugar and hardcore preservatives. It’s possible that these things are the problem, rather than the gluten itself.

Don’t take this to mean that you should stay completely away from grains! Mauricio points out that eating whole grains has been shown to improve your microbiome, help with diabetes prevention, and more. Even if you’re sensitive to gluten, you can eat quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, and brown rice, for example.

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I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Mauricio as much as I did! Watch the YouTube video for even more in-depth information about gluten, and dive into our previous conversation about dairy for more of his wisdom!

I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Mauricio as much as I did! Watch the YouTube video for even more in-depth information about gluten, and dive into our previous conversation about dairy for more of his wisdom!